The Percy Jackson books are about to be adapted in a Disney+ series. Prior to that, the first two books were adapted into feature films that had Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario in the lead roles. But the films flopped, and screenwriter Craig Titley has a good idea why.
The movies
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was released on February 12, 2010. Lerman starred in the titular role, and Brandon T. Jackson and Daddario starred as Grover and Annabeth, respectively. The film grossed $226 million on a $95 million budget, which was good enough for a sequel to be made. Sea of Monsters made less ($200 million) on a slightly lower budget ($90 million).
Why they failed
According to Titley in Variety's latest cover story, one of the key reasons the movies were made was in the aftermath of the Harry Potter series. Hollywood studios were “buying up any book that had three kids chasing monsters” in the wake of the Harry Potter film series.
Tom Rothman, who was the co-chairman of 20th Century Fox when the Percy Jackson films were made, was “notorious for doing movies on the cheap,” Titley revealed. “So if Harry Potter is what you're aiming for, you're automatically handicapping the project.”
Rothman also reportedly took the built-in audience of Percy Jackson for granted. “He felt marketing could sell a known book series, so why spend top dollar?” Titley said. “But the special effects are bad. There's not the edge that the books had.”
He added that budgetary constraints further hurt the project. Rewrites had to be done to modify some of The Lightning Thief's climactic moments.
Disney+
The Percy Jackson series will get another chance, this time on Disney+. Percy Jackson and The Olympians will spend its first season adapting The Lightning Thief. Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri star as the titular character, Annabeth, and Grover, respectively. Adam Copeland (Edge) will also star in the series along with Megan Mullally, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, and Jason Mantzoukas.
Percy Jackson and The Olympians will premiere on December 20 on Disney+.
Follow Us
Subscribe
